


Star Struck

by Manage_mischief



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BAMF Lily Evans Potter, Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, James Potter is a Good Friend, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Pre-Canon, Romantic Fluff, and so in love with James it hurts, but an adorable idiot, james is an idiot, lily is sassy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:42:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24794842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Manage_mischief/pseuds/Manage_mischief
Summary: Prompt: “I couldn’t function without you.”James decides to try and make Lily's awful day a little bit better. Shameless fluff.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 57





	Star Struck

**Author's Note:**

> Written for @angelinathebooks’s writing challenge. Shameless fluff. I think I’m going to write for Jily more often: this was so fun to do. This takes place during their 7th year, after Lily and James had been dating for a few months. Hope you enjoy!

Lily Evans was having an awful day. She had been up all last night on patrol as Head Girl, dealing with some incompetent first years who had injured themselves trying to touch the trunk of the Whomping Willow. The incident reports had taken hours for her to complete. This morning, she had headed to her classes with a massive, ear-splitting headache. She could barely concentrate during Potions, had accidentally set a cushion on fire in Charms, and was sure she had failed this afternoon’s Transfiguration exam. All she wanted to do was return to her dorm and sleep for the foreseeable future. She should have known that she wouldn’t be so lucky. 

As she made her way back to Gryffindor Tower, a voice called out from behind her. 

“Hey, Lils!” 

Lily smiled and slowed her pace to allow her best friend, Mary MacDonald, to catch up. Despite her immense fatigue and desire to avoid human interaction, she could never be irritated at Mary. The girl was just too damn sweet. 

“Hey Mare, you headed back to the Common Room?” 

“Of course! That’s where everyone’s headed, isn’t it? I suppose they all want to see,” Mary giggled. When she saw the blank expression on Lily’s face, however, her laughter died. 

“Oh. You…you didn’t hear…” 

“What didn’t I hear?” Lily questioned. As she climbed the stairs, she now noticed the unusually thick flock of students around her. An electric excitement ran through the air as the young Gryffindors whispered in hushed, urgent tones. The whole house seemed to be making their way back to their dormitory. 

“I can’t believe they actually did it,” a small third-year gossiped with her friend. 

“Well, they didn’t _really_ , did they? I mean, that’s what I heard. That they failed and are all stuck in it now! That’s why everyone’s going back to see,” her companion replied. 

“I guess so. But, still, it’s a hilarious prank, even if it hasn’t gone quite according to plan. They’re so funny! And the tall one, he has such dreamy eyes,” the first girl sighed. 

Lily’s mind filled with dread. So, someone—or rather—some people had tried to pull off a prank in the Gryffindor Common Room, and it had gone miserably wrong. She looked at Mary, not even wanting to ask…

“I think it was an accident…they didn’t mean it…” Mary quietly muttered, avoiding her gaze. Lily’s unspoken question had been answered. Dammit, James. 

Lily stormed up the final steps, shoving her housemates out of the way a bit more aggressively than was necessarily appropriate. She reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and took a deep breath, attempting to gain some last-minute composure before she walked in on whatever mess her boyfriend and his mates had concocted. 

“ _Hungarian Horntail_ ,” she gave the password, rubbing her temple. The Fat Lady looked down upon her with sympathy. “Correct. Are you sure you want to see? It’s a lot to take in, and you look exhausted.” Reluctantly, Lily nodded. The painting swung open. 

Lily had thought she was prepared to witness whatever stupidity awaited her. She had thought wrong. The scene that was unfolding before her was so bewildering, so _utterly idiotic_ , that it took her several moments to fully process. 

Students stood on their dormitory stairs, craning around each other for a view of the chaos that was ensuing. Lily felt a mob of people behind her in the portrait hole, pressing in to get a closer look. For the Common Room was no longer the Common Room. The entire place had been transformed from a cozy castle hangout to a hot, damp, sticky bog. The chairs and couches that normally occupied the space were all covered in a thick, black mud that looked to be about waist high. 

And, in the middle of the monstrous, muddy mess were none other than her boyfriend, James Potter, and his three best friends. 

“Oi Pete, stop moving! You’re splashing mud on my glasses!” the black-haired boy snapped. 

“Sorry!” 

James had yet to recognize Lily’s presence. She remained in the portrait hole, vaguely aware her house mates’ giggles. Every member of Gryffindor seemed to be there, all witnessing the same scene: James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin —Merlin’s balls, she’d have thought _he_ at least would have known better—all stuck in the muddy bog that they had evidently created. 

The four boys continued to struggle for a few moments, but it was no use. They remained stuck, unable to break free from their dirty prison. 

“Moons, watch the hair,” Sirius cried as Remus attempted to pry his mud-soaked hand off of his friend’s scalp. “Ow!”

“Shut it, you two,” James shouted. “We need to figure out how to get out and get rid of this mess before Lily—”

“Ahem,” Lily coughed. Slowly, all four boys turned—as much as they could, given they were trapped in enchanted mud—towards the redhead in the entryway. “Too late.” 

James’ face turned beet-red. His hands shot up to his hair unconsciously, mussing it up. He swallowed. “Oh, hey Lils. Have a nice day?” 

So, he was going for the casual act. Ok. She could play along. “Ah, you know, nothing too special. After being up all last night, I was hoping to turn in early. But, it seems like some idiots made sure I can’t get to my room, doesn’t it? How strange! You wouldn’t happen to know anything about this mess, would you?” 

Sirius snorted, amused at the sight of his best mate being publicly mocked by his girlfriend. Lily turned her head and glared daggers. He shut up immediately. Her gaze shifted to Remus, who refused to meet it. At least he had the audacity to look ashamed of himself. 

The four troublemakers regarded one another, silently debating who was going to be the one to tell Lily the truth. She stared back at James. Despite her annoyance, she was curious about what had caused this predicament. 

“Well,” James finally spoke. “We modified this portable swamp we bought at Zonko’s. Those one’s they sell there aren’t very effective,” he paused and looked up at her hopefully, wondering if he could get away without having to explain the rest. 

“And?” Lily pressed. The rest of the Gryffindors fell silent and watched intently, like they were spectating at a very intense Quidditch match. 

James sighed. “And we were going to use it to transform the Slytherin Common Room—they totally deserved it, Mulciber and Avery hexed a first-year muggle born this morning—and well…Peter sort of…dropped it…”

Lily’s eyes widened. “He…dropped it?” 

Peter whimpered. All eyes had focused on him. “Nice going, Pettigrew,” someone scathingly remarked. 

“Hey!” James came to the defense of his small, squirrely friend. “Shut it! Anyways, well, it ended up being dropped and activated and we hadn’t exactly tested it to see how the mud would work and well…here we are,” he gestured to himself, his friends, and the mud that trapped them. “We can’t seem to figure out how to get rid of it…” 

Lily wanted to stay mad. Oh, how she wanted to stay mad. But, looking at James’s cheeky, apologetic grin, her annoyance melted away. She drew her wand and began mumbling some incantations for getting rid of magical messes that she had learned about earlier in the year. Sure enough, the mud began to disappear, and the Common Room returned to normal. Now, all of the Gryffindors’ eyes were focused on her, filled with awe and admiration. It was a good thing she paid attention in Charms. 

“Oi,” she cried at the dumbfounded spectators. “What’re you all doing still standing around? Show’s over, folks!” 

Instantly, the crowd scattered. Lily hopped gracefully down onto the now mud-free floor and walked over to James, who was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. She rolled her eyes. “Git,” she muttered, but her small smile betrayed her irritated tone. 

Sirius walked behind her and patted her on the back. “Nice one, Evans. You’re a champ!” He grabbed Remus’s hand and dragged him up towards the boys’ dorm. Remus shot her an apologetic look before he vanished up the stairs. 

“That was brilliant, Lily,” James praised her. “Seriously. Thank you. I know it was idiotic, and immature, and—”

“—and we’ll have to think of another way to stick it to those wannabe Death Eaters,” Lily finished. James stared at her in shock and admiration.

“Oh, you bloody bet we will,” he joyfully exclaimed. 

“As long as you run your ideas by me, Potter. Because, from what I saw here tonight, I think you’re in desperate need of my supervision.” 

“I promise, Lily. Honestly. I couldn’t function without you.” His tone was joking, but his expression was sincere. 

“Clearly,” she stated, holding back a yawn. She frowned, remembering the day’s events and her exhaustion. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I just really want to go to sleep and forget this dreadful day ever happened.” She turned for the stairs, but he grabbed her hand, pulling her back towards him. 

“Hey,” James’s hazel eyes sparkled. “How about I make it up to you? You go take a nap. Meet me back here at midnight. I promise I’ll do my best to improve this shitty day of yours.”

Lily’s insides swelled with warmth. Despite what anyone may think, James Potter was a sweet and caring boy. He may have been an idiot, but he was her idiot. “It’s a date,” she smiled. Their hands lingered as she walked away from him, up to her room. A wide grin was still plastered on her face as she flopped down onto her bed, thinking of the boy who would be waiting for her when she woke up. 

At midnight, Lily crept down the stairs, careful not to wake anyone. There were only a few other students studying when she arrived at the Common Room—none of them James. She glanced around and checked her reflection in a decorative suit of armor while she waited. After a few moments, she felt a tap on her shoulder. However, when she spun around, no one was there. She scanned the room. Still no sign of James. All of a sudden, the air in front of her rippled. An instant later, she found herself staring at her boyfriend’s disembodied head. 

Lily jumped backwards, wide-eyed. “Bloody hell!” 

James’s head laughed heartily. “Sorry, Lil, I couldn’t resist,” he said, cheekily. “Here, come on in, there’s plenty of room.” He revealed the rest of his body as he pulled open what appeared to be a slightly-used cloak. She nervously looked around to make sure no one else was watching, and then darted into his open arms. He folded the cloak around her body and pulled it over their heads. 

Lily felt her heartbeat pound in her chest as they were pressed together under the garment. She glanced back and noticed that her reflection had disappeared from the shiny surface of the suit of armor. “Wow, an Invisibility Cloak! I thought these were a myth! I’m impressed, Potter,” she teased. 

“Only the best for you, dear,” James didn’t miss a beat. “Shall we?” He gestured at the portrait hole. 

“Trying to get us caught out of bed after hours, are we? Just when I thought you’d had enough trouble for today.” 

“Well, are you going to join me, or not? Because I could always get Sirius to come instead. Though he’s not nearly as fun to snog,” James winked. Lily’s face broke out into what she now referred to as her uncontrollable “James grin”—large, beaming, playful, and usually accompanied by the shaking of her head. She had been wearing this expression a lot, lately. No one brought out her goofy, carefree side nearly as much as James Potter did.

“If you insist, James, lead the way.” 

The pair maneuvered themselves out of the portrait hole, remaining under the cover of the cloak. About half way down the corridor, James put a hand on her shoulder, signaling her to stop. He pulled out a ruddy old piece of parchment and examined it pointedly. “Hm, no, we should be ok, he’s on the first floor…” 

“Who’s on the first floor?”

“Peeves,” James said, matter-of-factly. 

“And you know this _how_ exactly?” Lily asked suspiciously, trying to peer up to see what was on the paper in his hands. Quickly, though, James stuffed the parchment into his back pocket. 

“I have my ways,” he cryptically remarked. “Point is, we won’t be attacked by flying dung bombs on our way to the Astronomy Tower. C’mon.” 

The couple climbed up the stairs to the tallest tower of the castle. James opened the door to the open-air observatory and revealed his surprise. 

Lily gasped. A picnic blanket had been arranged on the floor. Spread out upon the red and white gingham was an assortment of her favorite treats: Cauldron Cakes, treacle tarts, and, to her delight and surprise, a bag of her favorite Muggle candy, Skittles. Two goblets had been set to the side, as well as several bottles of butterbeer. James gently pulled the cloak off of them and jerked his head at the display. 

“After you, m’lday.” He took Lily’s hand and helped her take a seat on the blanket. He plopped down beside her. The night was cool and clear. She looked up and noticed that he had arranged their picnic in the perfect position to gaze up at the glittering stars overhead. 

“James…” 

“I know, I’m an amazing boyfriend and you don’t know how you got so lucky,” he joked, dramatically. Lily chuckled.

“This is…well…it’s absolutely _perfect_.” She reached for the bag of Skittles. “How did you even get these? And…is this butterbeer from The Three Broomsticks? What do you do, keep a stock?” 

He flashed a mischievous smile. “I have my ways…and had some time while you were sleeping. Seriously, it’s the least I could do. It seemed like you were having a bad day. And, I see it as my quintessential duty as ‘Boyfriend to Miss Lily Evans’ to cheer you up when you’re feeling down.” 

Lily’s cheeks reddened. She grinned shyly as she reached into the bag of chewy candies. 

“Here,” James said, “hand me some of those. I need to see what all the fuss is about.” 

After the pair had eaten and drank their fill, they sat silently together, leaning shoulder-to-shoulder, staring up at the sparkling heavens above. 

“You know,” Lily remarked, “I reckon I’d have enjoyed Astronomy classes a lot more if they had been more like this.” 

“Yeah, I reckon I would’ve, too,” James replied, turning his body so he was facing her head on. His untidy black hair rustled slightly with the wind. His glasses sat slightly crooked on his face, and Lily gently reached her hand up to straighten them. As she slowly drew her hand away, he took it and kissed it. He moved his other hand to brush a strand of red hair from her face. Her eyes fluttered downward, shyly. Slowly, timidly at first, the young couple leaned in closer until, finally, they bridged the gap between them. Their lips met, and Lily felt the familiar flock of butterflies explode inside of her: butterflies that always appeared when James kissed her. 

Their soft kisses became more intense. Her hands ran through his mop of hair, while his moved up and down her body. She broke away for a moment. 

“Better than Sirius?” she teased. 

“Loads,” James laughed before he pulled her back in. 

And so, the couple remained glued together well into the night, exploring each other under the stars… 

….

“James?” Lily turned her head to look at him, comfortably leaning back into his warm chest, his arms wrapped around her. 

“Hm?”

“What was on that paper?”

He laughed and shook his head. “I knew you wouldn’t turn a blind eye. Trust me, it’s better if you don’t know. I’ve already shown you my Cloak. I can’t be giving away all of my secrets.”

Lily pouted. 

“After we graduate, I’ll tell you,” he relented.

“Bold of you to assume we’ll be together after we graduate,” Lily quipped, though secretly joyful that he had spoken of a future between them. 

He stared down at her, his gaze suddenly intense. “We will,” he said, so seriously that it made Lily’s heart skip a beat. “I know we will. I told you before, Lily. I couldn’t function without you.” 

And, as her green eyes stared into his hazel ones, she realized: she didn’t think she could function without him, either.


End file.
